PDA

View Full Version : Negative AP Early Morning Experience in DCA



hefferdude
09-06-2012, 03:33 AM
Upon entering DCA for the AP early entry event on Tuesday and seeing the line for RSR was already very very long, we proceeded to Carsland to see if the single rider line was open. To our dismay the ride was already down hard and guests were being turned out not only from the ride but the line as well. We decided to backtrack and get in line for FPs. Upon reaching the line, we saw the roped off line extended down the side of the new theater. I passed by a cast member saying hello who appeared to be holding the line to keep the exit from the theater clear who said nothing as I passed him. There was no sign indicating this was some sort of an exit. I had not gone more than 10 steps whenseeing the line went beyond the theater, I turned to go back the way I came. I was immediately shouted to loudly by a bullish Borgnine-esque looking cast supervisor who told me in no uncertain terms I could not go back. I attempted to explain I was already in the early morning entry and was trying to see where the end of the FP line was but he would not listen. He responded if that was so I would have to go out the entry gate and have my AP re-scanned. The cast member holding the line said nothing the entire time. Essentially I was given the bum rush. It was rude and put a serious damper on the rest of our day. So be warned if the line for APs extends beyond the rope drop in any fashion whatsoever, even when it appears to be an extension of the line from within the early entry, do not leave the area. There is no sign indicating this and cast members cannot be relied upon to inform guests of this.

Just Believe
09-06-2012, 08:18 AM
This is terrible!!! I'm going to tomorrow and will hopefully report that was a fluke. I hope this won't be the case of cast members getting that frustrated. I've always said DL cast members tend to be more welcoming than WDW (no offense) but I would hate to say that changed

hefferdude
09-06-2012, 11:12 AM
No fluke I assure you. I talked with a few cast members who were working the early entry after my event suggesting some sort of signage or a even cast member whose duty is to
watch for just such an occurance. It would not unneccesarily burden the crew as it was for 1 hour only. My own take was the supervisor was of one mind to maintain his spot and
I was an anomoly. Frustration was another feeling as word spread RSR was down hard and the park was about to fully open.

I took away to be a better judge of boundries. If such an occurance happens again in the future ( which I hope does not ) I will take a moment to look at the CM badge for better reference. Reasoning with the guy was not an option.

ralfrick
09-06-2012, 05:26 PM
Can I assume that the wristband system is no longer in use? I will definitely plan to have a printout of my confirmation.

pulltab
09-06-2012, 06:03 PM
I had no problems getting to RSR on Tuesday. Yes, the ride did break down on our second pass thru... Yes, there is a lot of pushing and shoving and "fast walking" people out there trying to get into the RSR lines and it was intense. Sometimes the Cast Members have to "steer the ship" to some people's chagrin or dismay.... I considered that early hour entry kinda cool, and

"ya pays your money... ya takes your chances!"

shna
09-07-2012, 10:32 AM
Can I assume that the wristband system is no longer in use? I will definitely plan to have a printout of my confirmation.
DD and I did the AP Early Entry thing at the beginning of August & didn't get wristbands -- so I'm guessing the wristband system is no longer in use. Either that, or they just didn't happen to be using them that Tuesday.

hefferdude
09-07-2012, 12:26 PM
Wrist bands were not issued upon entry. You were given a 4 X 5 pink piece of paper with "AP Event" or the like printed on it.
You handed it to the CM upon entry passed the rope holding back guests not attending the event. The misunderstanding could have been averted
with the wrist band method.

I did not see nor was aware of any crowd issues at that time. The FP line was very sedate and orderly.
My sense is either the supervisor did not want to be there or has a less than friendly management style or a little of both.

smartlabelprint
09-07-2012, 08:38 PM
Definitely get the name next time!

Pammer
09-08-2012, 09:11 PM
Interesting...we were at this event on Tuesday morning as well and had a totally different experience; we got there 10 minutes early and entered an extremely long line that extended all the way past the ticket booths on the western side (near Downtown Disney). They had the APs separated into a different corral from the hotel guests and we weren't given any slip of paper; they just scanned our APs at the entrance to the corrals (although I did have my confirmation printout with us as well, just in case)...we weren't given any paper when we did the APEE at DL the previous Friday either (with a much smaller crowd, I might add!).

Cars Land was already extremely crowded at just after 9am so we went back to Toy Story Mania and rode 3 times in about 35mins before heading back to join the RSR FP line. The queue ended prior to where rope drop was (at about 10-15mins before park opening) and the day guests were lined up along the Carthay Circle Theater to join the end of our line when allowed...we even checked with the CMs to make sure we weren't line jumping first! The end of our FP line never extended back into the rope drop area prior to park opening, so I'm confused how you made it back to that section instead of just joining our queue. I'm also curious about your timeline...what time did you get to the park and what time were you trying to join the FP line?

Thank goodness they let you get RSR FPs at park opening, even when the ride is down (which happens a lot, I hear)! The FP machines at the other attractions always go dark at the same time a ride is down (which is a different practice than at WDW where you continue to get FPs no matter whether a ride is up or down at the time), but not this one...probably to avoid a near-riot if someone has waited 20-30mins for a FP and then the ride & FP machine went dark before you got your FP!

BTW, the ride was indeed down after we got our FP which was disappointing!

Malcon10t
09-08-2012, 09:50 PM
we weren't given any slip of paper; they just scanned our APs at the entrance to the corrals (although I did have my confirmation printout with us as well, just in case)...we weren't given any paper when we did the APEE at DL the previous Friday either (with a much smaller crowd, I might add!).I believe they give the paper when they start letting the regular tickets in 30 min prior to opening. When I entered at MM after they began letting in the ticket holders, to get past the rope, you had to have the slip of paper. They collected it as you went through the roped area.

Pammer
09-09-2012, 03:13 PM
Ah...makes sense now; thanks Mal! :D

hefferdude
09-09-2012, 10:26 PM
I'm also curious about your timeline...what time did you get to the park and what time were you trying to join the FP line?


We arrived at the DCA gate appox 9:25AM. After following a sudden CM change of line venue outside the park in the Esplanade area and after having our APs scanned we received "pink slips" we proceeded to through the gate to the AP early event entry where we surrendered our "pink slips' to the CM at the right of the normal "rope drop" line. My original story line follows from there. I surmise from Malcon10nts comments that we may have wandered out into the "normal" cue and confused with line jumpers by said morning line magistrate. Bottom line - we will be back. Momentary suspension of "Disney Magic"CM. Maybe I should I demand an AP "Lean Forward" moment..........
Nah!
No FP and cue would be way too long. :p

Wavesprite1
09-10-2012, 06:15 AM
When we did it in June we all had on wristbands...to get back in? Are they no longer issuing bright wristbands?

Malcon10t
09-10-2012, 07:16 AM
When we did it in June we all had on wristbands...to get back in? Are they no longer issuing bright wristbands?No, they are not. They give you a bright colored paper which you take to the roped off area and enter. Do not back track out or you may not get back in.

Hefferdude, I have gotten in that LONG line at 15 mins after the park opened (it was down past the animation building) and it was only maybe 10-15 mins to get to the FPs. It moves VERY quickly.

hefferdude
09-10-2012, 09:16 AM
Thanks, that's good to know. I was going on RSR FP 411 I had read in another post regarding RSR breakingdown and FP line times that morning.
Unfortunately, my DW is no longer paticularly enthusiastic about attending AP early entry in the future.

Drince88
09-10-2012, 09:35 AM
Unfortunately, my DW is no longer paticularly enthusiastic about attending AP early entry in the future.
Have they announced they're going to have a second round of them?